


All in a Dream

by Marijke_Rose



Category: Invader Zim
Genre: Alien probing, Alternate Universe, Brutality, Death, Hurt, Loss, Love, M/M, Major character death - Freeform, One Shot, Probing, RaPr, Tragedy, be careful, dream - Freeform, failure - Freeform, young tallests
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-31
Updated: 2019-10-31
Packaged: 2021-01-15 15:04:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,787
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21255293
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Marijke_Rose/pseuds/Marijke_Rose
Summary: This is an AU, I consider none of this to be related canon to my other stories. It was also written before 'Rite', I just have been hesitating to share for reasons.This completely changes everything that ever happened in IZ canon and basically puts Purple in Zim's place (minus the 'fake' part of the mission).It's a one-shot and is tragic.TRIGGER WARNINGS in effect: Rape (believed); object rape (potentially seen as such - forced probing); drugging.Certain aspects are somewhat inspired by Octopusfan13's idea about Pur's gender. It's not based on her works, in fact, this was lit a dream I had, but I can only guess that Pur's odd anatomy came from their story subconciously. (I also have permission to mention them and their story.) Has NOTHING to do with their story otherwise. Go read it!Go read their story: The Breeding ProjectIt's SO awesome and is my fave ever RaPR fanfic. Go read it, I can't recommend it enough! And they have a sequel which is also awesome!





	All in a Dream

#  Prologue

'Because I would never last a day.'

Tallests don't tend to take missions themselves, they have people to send to planets instead. Expendable people.

Never should Almighty Tallest Red have agreed to let Purple take on this one. And never should he have let him go to that planet. The universal translators every irken carried in their PAK didn't work well with the strange language of the natives.

Never should they have gone. And, of all the mistakes they had made with it,  _ never _ should they have agreed for Pur to go completely alone.

He should have put his foot down. He was Almighty Tallest Red, co-ruler of the strongest and most fearsome Empire, he was the most powerful being in the universe alongside Purple. He could have denied Purple his wish, but he had not.

“Find him!” he snarled fiercely at his underlings. “Now! Or I will have your PAK’s!”

Now his dear co-ruler and beloved Life Mate was missing and Red hated himself with every fibre of his being for allowing it.

  
  
  


***

#  All in a Dream

'Without your love.'

Purple wandered through halls his eyes could barely focus on, felt more like he was wading through a thick and hazy muck, and too woozy to try to use his hoverbelt (somehow he doubted it even worked). He wasn't entirely sure where he was nor where he was going. He was only certain that something was wrong and he had to get out of there. Besides, when he didn't feel well, Red was where he wanted to be.

Through what could only have been some kind of survival instinct, he had an idea of the way to freedom. Had he been here before? He couldn't recall for sure, but he was sure he had to take a left and then go down a short stairway and there would be freedom. Or Red. He hoped it would be Red, but knew freedom would bring him to his Red. Red who would hold him and cuddle him and talk to him and bring him to bed until he was well again. Red who would make him feel safe and loved. 

On top of that, he was full in Base and the urge,  _ need, _ to mate was disconcerting and just plain  _ bothersome.  _ It just figured that he’d also get sick! He had to get out of there and not get caught. Back to Red. As soon as possible.

So, he wandered on, bracing himself against the walls because the ground wouldn't stay still. On long, shaky legs, he wandered down the stairs and into a room - holding himself on the rails whilst so as not to lose his balance and go tumbling down instead.

Once in the room, he saw he’d been right: Up another three steps was a door to the exit and freedom. Through the high windows, he could see daylight and grass and trees.

Stumbling, he made his way towards it, then heard voices. He paused, then gave a start, for they were getting closer! He knew they were coming this way - there was no other way to go - and he began to look around for a quick hiding place. No way he could make it across the room and out the door to freedom before they came down the stairs.

All he found was a single cloth hanging on a rack in front of a little inlet. The inlet was like a room without a door and just big enough for two adults to stand side by side in. The hanging cloth, however, didn't hang all the way to the floor and didn't even come up to his waist. He could duck in there and curl up against the wall, then maybe he’d be small enough to hide, but it was a very poor hiding place. If they even looked in his direction they’d be able to see him.

He chose it, for it was the only one, and sat down with his knees pulled up to his chest. He tried to slow his breathing, to silence it, but his heart was pounding and it was hard.

He ducked even lower as he heard them talking and coming down the stairs. He silently plead for them not to look in his direction, to just go on through and keep talking.

_ ‘Oh, please don't look this way’, _ he begged.

They stopped in the middle of the room and he could see one male with black, curly hair, one female with slightly lighter curly hair, and one female with hers tied back into a ponytail. The male had a perfectly trimmed mustache and triangle below his bottom lip. The male had medium dark skin and the dark-haired female had lighter skin. Not a tan, but a natural tone. The brown-haired female had too light of skin which suggested that wasn't her natural hair colour.

Why he knew about hair and styles and ponytails and skin tones, he wasn't sure. Irkens knew everything about every species and he was positive he knew all of that for a reason, he just couldn't remember what it was.

They were speaking to each other in their language. He couldn't understand what they were saying. They seemed a mix of serious and light. Like a retelling of business between colleagues and friends. Like how some of the lessers in his species who were good colleagues would chat while on duty about duty. It sounded routine, but animated.

He held his antennae flat to his head. Never before had he wanted to curse his impressive height as he did now.

The three stopped in the middle of the room and he tried to control his breathing, to silence it. There was a hum in the room, filling his ears, and he hoped he could hide his breathing behind it. But they stopped, still chatting, and then they all turned and came over. He stopped breathing all together. Hoping they’d not look.

Then one of the females bent over the hanging cloth and he looked up into her eyes.

Then it all happened so fast. The ponytail jumped behind him to shove him out, and he dropped her with a sweeping kick, then the other female grabbed him and he shoved her with all his might.

She  _ should _ have gone flying into her male companion and they  _ should _ have crashed to the floor, cracking their heads open. A puddle of their blood  _ should _ have pooled about them. It  _ should _ have been an instant, or at least near-instant, kill because of his superior strength.

_ Should have.  _ Instead, Pur’s shove only sent her stumbling into her male counterpart and they recovered before Purple himself could. The male quickly grabbed him and began dragging him out. Pur fought back, struggled to free himself.

He received a dizzying punch to the side of the head that left him seeing stars, then there was a click and, to his horror, his armored skirt opened. Then his chestplate and then they went for his undergarments, cutting at them with a knife Purple had not been aware they had!

Alarm shot through him and he kicked and flailed about, but to no avail, for they threw him down onto a soft surface, then flipped him onto his tummy. The last thing he remembered before he blacked out, was the male crawling on top of him.

_ \--Spread eagle on their soft bed with Red mounting him, he gave a moan as his mate settled between his legs and slid into his aching receptive genitalia, finally. And Red bent down to kiss and lap his neck _

_ Pur lost himself in the powerful and enticing scent of his mate, the sound of his voice as he purred sweet and sexy things against his earhole, and the feel of Red moving in and out, rubbing and stimulating him until he was quivering and moaning and begging Red for more. More and more, faster and faster. To end the suffering that was the Base. _

_ Red was his love. Had always been even before he had wanted to admit it. Always Red and only Red. Even when he wasn't so good at expressing it. And Red knew. He knew Red knew. If not with words so much, Pur expressed it in other ways when they were alone. A look. A kind touch. A moment of submission. Of obedience he showed no other. How he let Red dominate him in bed. A respectful lean in his antennae. _

_ Or how he always sought Red out, for his strength, his support, his embrace and security when Purple wasn't feeling well. _

_ Only a dream.-- _

_ I want Red. _

That was his first thought as Red and their mating faded while he came to. He was still on the soft surface. Still on his tummy. In an unbelievable amount of pain and very dizzy. A breeze from an open window told him he was fully naked.

With a cry that was both terrified and furious, he tried to close his legs, but was met with restraint. He tried to pull his hands in, but they weren’t in his command either. He looked up and saw the thick, strong, and merciless cuffs that bound him. Prone and spread eagle and void of all the dignity he’d ever possessed. And that part, the one he’d vowed to share with Red and no other for as long as they lived, felt abused just as the rest of his body did.

He collapsed in misery as he concluded what must've happened while he was unconscious. They had taken and broken his Life Vow of Loyalty, of  _ monogamy, _ to Red.

Into his fuzzy vision came the male. Fully clad in his dark, ugly clothing and holding something Purple couldn't identify. The man spoke to… him? He seemed to be. It was no use, though. Purple couldn't understand a word.

“Go away,” he said, though his tongue felt swollen and his words were slurred. He figured this must be what being intoxicated on too much Vortian Glow was like.

Red! He wanted Red. Red would destroy every one of these beings. Red would make them pay for having taken what was his and his alone from Purple.

The man continued talking and Purple became aware of being poked and prodded. Then there was a sharp prick to the inside of his left elbow and his blood was being sucked into a beaker.

Somehow, it was all too much, too horrible, and he was too dizzy, that Purple lost consciousness again.

He felt another poke in the opposing elbow and his eyes snapped open to see them setting in an IV line. Almost instantly, he felt the effects of the drug and began swimming in and out of consciousness. His eyelids fell shut and his thoughts blurred.

More voices, more talking, more of that strange language, including what sounded like one of the aliens scolding another.

_ “Nicht so viel! Nicht so viel! Sie bringen ihn um!” _

_ “‘Sie’. Ich bin mir ziemlich sicher das unser Außerirdische eine sie ist. Schauen Sie sich ihren Genitalbereich an.” _

_ “Das ist mir egal, ob er ein Weibchen oder ein Männchen ist. Los, an die Arbeit!” _

When Purple looked, there was a new male, balding with white hair and a finely trimmed moustache. Blue eyes, he thought groggily. This one had blue eyes and a piercing gaze that made Purple shudder. And again he was aware of his unclad state. And again he wished Red was there.

_ “Aber der Ultraschall zeigte, dass er Eisprung hat. Ergo ist er eine  _ ** _sie_ ** _ .” _

_ “Von mir aus… und jetzt müssen wir es herausfinden woher  _ ** _sie_ ** _ kommt und was  _ ** _sie_ ** _ hier auf der Erde zu suchen hat.” _

Purple’s eyelids felt heavy and whatever they were pumping him full of felt hot in his veins. It even made it hard to hold his antennae up. Though an uninvited touch to one caused the sensitive stalk to flick before it was roughly captured.

Again the world started to fade to black, then a sharp pain brought him back to with a cry. “Ouch!”

_ “Was bist du? Und was machst du eigentlich hier? Gibt's auch mehrere wie du? Hast du eine Familie? Schade das du unsere Sprache nicht kannst. Ich hatte so viele Fragen.” _

_ “Hör doch auf mit ihr zu reden, Christoph. Sie versteht dich eh nicht.” _ One of the females this time, but she was out of Pur’s line of sight.

Purple glared at the one, the dark, curly haired one who had captured him and who was now manhandling and abusing one of his antennae. Then he felt him grab his other, and that was followed by another sharp pain as he clipped at the silky, brushy tip, then deposited the sample into a small bag.

“Stop that! I need those!” His own voice sounded alarmly weak and slurred to him, so Purple glared daggers at the man for extra measure. Of his antennae, he wasn't worried for they would grow back, so there was no cause to fret about being disfigured, but it was still quite an insult.

Then they prodded at his PAK.

“NO! I-I need that to live!” he cried as they pulled at it.

They poked something under it that scraped at his flesh. Then they tapped at it. That didn't hurt, but it was annoying.

_ “Es scheint Öffnungen zu haben…” _ said the curly-haired man.  _ “Sieht hierhin. Aber ich krieg die nicht auf!” _

_ “Lass mich mal versuchen,” _ said the old man and the younger moved aside.

“Do NOT remove that!” Pur cried again.

Of course, they ignored his demands and resumed poking and prodding, this time at his ports.

All of a sudden, as the reality of what was likely about to happen fully sunk in, he felt queasy. As though whatever they were giving him was upsetting his stomach, or as if the prospect of a slow death by PAK removal was doing it, and before he even realised what was happening, his stomach lurched and he threw up.

And he gagged and heaved again and again and again, until his throat hurt and his stomach was empty. Then he dry-heaved until he was spent; and weakened and dizzy, he lost consciousness again, but this time he plunged into a full blackout.

  
  


***

  
  


“Help! You morons, HELP!”

A voice broke into the black fog his mind was lost in.

“Oh, Pur! - HURRY, A MEDIC! - Pur!”

The IV came out. He heard the sound of PAK lasers, then felt himself being picked up, his limbs slipping free of their bindings. He felt arms encircle him…  _ And he smelled Red! _

“Oh, Pur, what have they done to you?!”

He felt someone wiping his face.

“Why aren't these healing?!” His mate’s voice had gotten more desperate. “Pur, can you hear me?? You're safe, I’ve got you and… I’ve taken care of the hyoomans.”

For the first time since, he couldn't remember when, Purple did finally feel safe. Safe and secure in the arms of his mate, even though he was naked and violated and even though his entire body hurt and he could smell his own blood along with that of the hyoomans’ metallic-scented blood.

He felt Red raise his head.

“Pur??”

Pur couldn't seem to find the strength to hold his head up. So very weak. So sick. He forced his eyes open, though.

“Pur! Oh, thank the Tallest you're alive! Look at me!”

Red, looking more like a green and red blur, was looking down at him.

“Look, you’re safe now! I’ve got you. - Where is the medic?!”

Pur’s eyes drifted shut and he lost consciousness again. Only to wake again shortly when someone shook him, then pried his eyes open and shined a light into them.

“What are you doing?” Red demanded. “Trying to blind him? Well, it won't work. Our eyes are amazing.”

“Oops, sorry, I forgot, but no, I wasn't trying to blind him, I was trying to see how his pupil reacts to light, but your eyes are different,” a familiar voice he couldn't place said and the light disappeared. “But they do seem to be kinda foggy instead of clear like yours. Is that normal?”

“No.”

Purple felt black threaten to take him again and he knew he didn't have the strength to fight it for much longer.

“R-Red…” he tried, his voice sounded so distant and unfamiliar, like it wasn't coming from him.

“Sir,” the familiar voice said, though now a little more distant, as though across the room. “He… he’s been shot up with enough tranquilizer to kill an elephant.” 

Purple heard sounds as though someone was picking things up and setting them back down.

“A…  _ what?” _ Red asked.

“Sorry, it’s a big animal native to this planet. I don't know the irken word, if you even have one.”

Purple felt a hand on his wrist.

“His pulse is much slower than yours and… irregular.” Now the voice was suddenly close again.

After a few more moments, Red wrapped his arm back around Purple and squeezed him. “And what does that mean?”

“Even if you could beam him up to your ship and right into the medbay, I-I don't think he’d… live long enough for you to start treatment.”

“‘Beam him up’? What the- what is  _ wrong _ with you hyoomans??”

“Nevermind… Invader Pur- I mean Tallest Purple never got that either. Anyway…” He gave a sigh and Purple felt a cool hand on his head. “I don't know much about your species, except what he taught me, but this is a lot like what it looks like when a human is dying from an overdose of sleep medication.”

“He has a much faster and superior healing factor than you, Hyooman!” Red snapped.

“The Dib is right, the hideous earth  _ drug _ seems to have overloaded his system,” said a third voice. Again vaguely familiar, but Purple couldn't place him with a name. “My Tallest, I’m afraid his PAK and healing factor can't compensate anymore. It’s amazing he’s made it this long.”

“Then do something, you moron! Because if he dies, I swear on my PAK I will…”

Purple didn't understand what his mate and the other two were saying anymore. The words were too hard to follow, too hard to make sense out of.

He tried one last time to tell Red he loved him before he had to give into the exhaustion.

“Pur! Stay- don't-don’t go to sleep!”

Pur felt a slapping on his cheek. It was annoying, but he never had minded when Red did stuff like that to him. His Red. He wanted to assure Red that it was fine, that he was just tired, but his mouth didn't seem to want to obey either.

“Pur! That’s an order from your Tallest!”

The order, a  _ Tallest’s Order, _ went straight into his PAK, bringing it to his attention.

_ ‘You can't order  _ ** _me_ ** _ ,’ _ he thought, even amused by his mate. ‘ _ I’m Tallest too.’ _

“Damnit, Pur! Don't do this!”

Something told Pur that it was only him and Red now, though he had no idea where the other two had gone.

“Purple! Don't! You will  _ not-” _ there was a pause and Purple could scent the distress in his mate. “You can't… you can't  _ leave _ me, Pur! Pur, I love you, I need you!”

Pur felt the same about Red. He felt something cold and wet drop onto his face.

“I-I wanted to have smeets with you!”

Smeets. He wanted that too, but there would be time for that later. When he was better.

“And how-how am I going to rule without you?”

The same way he did  _ anything _ when Pur was sick. More drops came. Soft little pelts. There was a lot.

“PUR! I said to  _ stay with me!” _

The black was getting heavier and he felt his sense of smell fading. It was then that his PAK sent him one last thought.  _ ‘You’ve taken too much damage, irken child Tallest Purple, and now you're dying.’ _

“PUR!!! Stay…”

_ ‘Oh. Ok,’  _ Purple told it back, for there was no use arguing once your PAK declared you dead. _ ‘Tell Red I love him and… I’m sorry.’  _ With that, he felt it disconnect just as the black fully overtook him.

  
  
  


***

#  Epilogue

'Never knew I could be so lonely.'

  
  


_ ‘Tell Red I love him and… I’m sorry.’ _

Red played it over and over again. As Tallest and as his Life Mate, he had been given Purple’s PAK to look after until he could return it to Irk and have all of Purple’s knowledge and experiences copied to the irken database. It was how irkens lived on after their fleshy bodies died… if the Control Brains deemed them deserving of it that is, but he knew Purple would be. Purple had been a valuable member to the Empire. A talented Invader, wonderful Life Mate and best friend, and would've made an amazing Tallest.

_ ‘Tell Red I love him and… I’m sorry.’ _

Their PAK’s were connected via a cable from Red’s and now he knew exactly what Pur had been through since he’d gone missing. Including that Pur had thought he had been raped and had felt ashamed, as though he’d betrayed Red himself. Betrayed their Vow.

“Pur,” he said to the PAK, even though it didn't matter. “They didn't rape you. Your hyooman ally, the one called Dr. Dib Membrane, said it was an ultrasound device. Something to see into your body like our medical scanners, just… bad.” Red then shook his head. “But I guess it doesn't even matter whether it was genetalia-rape or object-rape. Still it wasn't your fault and I don't feel betrayed by you. I did make them pay with their lives, though.”

He hugged the PAK to his chest. Then he retracted his cable, disconnecting their minds. “I have to finish writing my report. Everyone wants to know how you died.” He laid it reverently down on Purple’s pillow in the bed they had once shared, then Red picked up a PAD, sat down next to the PAK, and began writing.

_ As everyone knew, Invader Purple had been sent to a planet called Earth. Due to Spork’s untimely passing, he and I became Tallest. Purple had to break off his mission and return with me to Irk so we could be promoted and coded with our new positions. _

_ As it was very important to him, now-Tallest Purple then begged me to let him return and finish his assignment. I’ve never been able to deny him anything. Not really. Not when he looks at me with those perfect, purple eyes- _

He frowned and erased that. No one else deserved to know about that. It was his and Pur’s.

_ So, Purple returned to the planet and his ally. I stayed on the Massive, to do my duty as Tallest. Things went wrong almost immediately. You see, he was to report to me every evening, but he failed to do so on the very first evening. _

_ Because of the high level of pollution of the Earth’s atmosphere as well as something Dib said was called ‘water vapor’ that was mucking it all up, our sensors couldn't locate him. So, I ordered an armed search and rescue mission on foot, of which I lead. I felt it was my duty to him. A Tallest for a Tallest… you know? No, wait that just sounds stupid. Oh well, I’m not a poet. _

He erased his fumble.

_ When we finally tracked him down, thanks to an ally of Dib’s on a part of the planet the hyoomans call Germany - whom Dib said he’ll never forgive me for killing - I found Tallest Purple strapped to an examination table, naked and covered with wires and an IV in his arm. He was surrounded by hyoomans who appeared to be trying to disassemble his PAK and, as you all know that he is my Life Mate, I made short work of them. Pur would've loved the sight. I tore their weak, fleshy bodies right apart and hyooman pieces were strewn all over the room. Yes, Pur would have loved it. _

Red had specifically taken a clip with his ocular implants and saved it to his PAK to show Purple when he was fit enough. He paused and sighed sadly, then resumed.

_ He had been battered up and was unconscious, so I freed him and tried to clean his wounds, then ordered for the medic to come. - I… really hope when it’s time to make this announcement that I can control my voice. _

He read that again, then decided to leave it as a reminder for later.

_ Dib arrived first and I suppose he is a medic of some kind on his planet, and he checked him over. Shortly after, Science Drone Zim arrived and checked him as well. The various drugs they had given him were powerful and had done too much damage. _

_ From his PAK, I have learned that he almost escaped, but had already been too heavily drugged at that point to fight back when they caught him, despite how weak and fragile the hyoomans are in comparison to us. To him. _

His vision blurred and he had to take a moment to just breathe before he wrote the next part.

_ His PAK disconnected him at the Irken date and time of 18062019.2236. _

His throat constricted painfully. Another couple breaths, then he forced himself on.

_ For this, while I will spare Dib as he was Purple’s ally and I cannot forget that, I have sentenced the hyoomans to full scale invasion and ultimate enslavement. As they are a fragile species, I will turn their planet into a prison instead of Vort as we had planned, and the hyoomans will serve the Empire by providing us with their most valuable resources of sugar and chocolate - as were Tallest Purple’s wishes. I’ll have to do something about that ‘water’ though. Purple reported many times that it  _ ** _burns_ ** _ on contact with our skin. _

He sighed and lowered the PAD. He looked over at Purple’s PAK.

“I wish you were here to correct this, but I guess it sounds ok. Since your disconnection, I… I seem to do better with words. Probably from all those hours I spend connected to your PAK.”

He resisted the urge to connect again, just to be with Purple again. He raised the PAD again and started to type, then halted. His eyes flitted to the PAK again.

He suddenly threw the PAD aside, where it clattered across the floor and hit the far wall, and picked the PAK up again instead. He ran his fingers along the beautiful purple ports.

“If I survive, the Control Brains will surely delete me.” A cable snaked out of his PAK and connected to Purple’s PAK. “Activate,” he sent the Tallest Order to it, then his cable retreated and the PAK came to life. It extended its connection tubes and began searching for a new host.

  
  


***

  
  


“Oh, my  _ Tallest! _ What-what have you done??” gasped Science Drone Zim as Red entered the bridge.

“Is-is that Purple’s PAK?” Dib asked. “I didn't know you could do that.”

Red smirked at them. “I can't rule alone, so Purple and I will rule  _ together.” _

“It’s going to make you crrrraaaaaazy, my Tallest! You-you  _ can't _ have  _ two _ active PAK’s!” Zim cried.

Red could already feel the struggle of minds, of personalities, of thoughts and memories and desires, all vying for power over their fleshy host, but he was sure he could handle it.

“Crazy?” Dib asked.

“They’re going to constantly fight for dominance! It will TEAR his fleshy mind apart like… like a fanged vortian slugbeast! - My Tallest! You  _ have _ to command Purple’s PAK to release you and deactivate!”

“Never,” Red hissed and lovingly caressed the PAK attached to his front. If he couldn't handle it and Zim was right, well… at least he  _ wouldn't be alone. _

  
  
  


~END~

  
  


######  ** _Translations from German:_ **

“Not so much! Not so much! You’ll kill him!”

“‘Her’. I’m pretty sure our alien is a ‘she’. Look at her genital area.”

“I don't care if he’s a male or female. Get to work!”

_ \-- _

“But the ultrasound said he is ovulating. Therefore, he is a ** she** .”

“Whatever… and now we must find out where  **she’s** from and what  **she’s** doing here on Earth.”

\--

“What are you? And what are you actually doing here? Are there more like you? Do you have a family? Sad that you can't speak our language. I have so many questions.”

“Quit talking to her, Christoph. She can't understand you anyway.”

\--

“It seems to have openings…” said the curly-haired man. “Look here. But I can't open them!”

“Let me try,” said the old man and the younger moved aside.

  
  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Yeah. Not happy.
> 
> Now go cheer yourself up by reading the much better story I mentioned.
> 
> NOTE:
> 
> In my Whumptober 2020 series, there are two shorts that belong to this. In-story chronologocial order:
> 
> Day 19 ‘A Nebula of Guilt’  
Day 1 ‘Together Forever’


End file.
